The Stone Soup Leadership Institute’s book series, Stone Soup for the World: Life-Changing Stories of Everyday Heroes is a treasure. It gives educators a powerful way to engage students through real-life stories with meaningful lessons that address the importance of SEL (social-emotional learning) values of caring for ourselves, others, and for the community. The Institute’s noble work with students, teachers and schools reminds me of how we created one of the nation’s first SEL curriculum and founded two schools with SEL as a central pillar. We worked alongside educators, political & business leaders, and a group Nobel Laureates to reflect on the educational needs of our society. We decided that the central foundation of a school is beyond students’ knowledge. We must give them an opportunity to think, act, and lay the foundation for life-long learning. The Institute’s curriculum and online courses gives teachers the tools they need to bring SEL into their classrooms. I encourage everyone who cares about our children, their future and ours to bring these tools into our schools.

Karen Stone McCown
Founder The Nueva Learning Center and The Synapse School
Featured in Daniel Goldman’s best seller Emotional Intelligence